General Visual & Performing Arts

Types of Degrees General Visual & Performing Arts Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general visual and performing arts graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	343
Doctor’s Degree	32
Graduate Certificate	15

What General Visual & Performing Arts Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, visual arts majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Visual Arts Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Skills for Visual Arts Majors

A major in visual arts prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Visual Arts Majors

Visual Arts majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

What Can You Do With a General Visual & Performing Arts Major?

People with a visual arts degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Art Directors	5.4%	$92,780
Art, Drama, and Music Professors	12.0%	$69,960
Artists and Related Workers	5.5%	$65,390
Craft Artists	4.8%	$34,240
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	6.8%	$49,380
Graphic Designers	4.2%	$50,370
Multimedia Artists and Animators	8.4%	$72,520

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in General Visual & Performing Arts?

This major is dominated by women with about 58% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of visual arts majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	23
Black or African American	19
Hispanic or Latino	44
White	175
International Students	49
Other Races/Ethnicities	33

Geographic Diversity

Visual Arts appeals to people across the globe. About 14.3% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• India
• Canada

How Much Do General Visual & Performing Arts Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The median starting salary of students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in visual arts was $38,684 per year. These stats come from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $29,204 (25th percentile) and $48,651 (75th percentile).

One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to visual arts.

Salaries According to BLS

Visual Arts majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $42,770 to $78,230 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to General Visual & Performing Arts

Some careers associated with visual arts require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to visual arts have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	3.4%
Some College Courses	13.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.2%
Master’s Degree	16.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.0%
Doctoral Degree	8.7%

Online General Visual & Performing Arts Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 514 schools offered some type of general visual and performing arts program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	22	2
Certificate (2-4 Years)	6	0
Associate’s Degree	187	10
Bachelor’s Degree	8	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	45	2
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in General Visual & Performing Arts Worth It?

The median salary for a visual arts grad is $58,370 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 46% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $369,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to General Visual & Performing Arts

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to visual arts.

Major	Number of Grads
Music	7,675
Fine & Studio Arts	3,224
Design & Applied Arts	1,979
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	1,704
Drama & Theater Arts	1,699
Arts & Media Management	1,184
Dance	257
Other Visual Art	254
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry	13

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.